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DreamCast 12 – Summer of Surreal 2011

Summer of Sonic 2011. TRiPPY and DiGi, sitting in a quiet room, across from them sits Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka- the creators of NiGHTS. That's all you need to know.
Prepare for something really quite special

~Basic transcript of meeting~

*TRiPPY and DiGi hand over gifts to Iizuka and Naka san to much laughter and chatter about artwork, NiGHTS: lucid dreaming and anniversary.*

Questions:
1. TRiPPY: The original game design for NiGHTS into Dreams was said to be European in design compared to how Sonic is American, NiGHTS is supposed to be European. Journey of Dreams looks like it's inspired by London, Bellbridge is very *thumbs up to Iizuka* Big Ben in design. But for years with NiGHTS into Dreams we've always wondered what city it was that inspired Twin Seeds. Was it American or European or… what inspired Twin Seeds City?Naka: In Twin Seeds one of the buildings looks like the Empire State building actually going back and thinking about it I think we did base it on the Empire State building. But the city itself isn't based on New York. The concept is that it's a modern clean city with no powerlines and it's basicly very Art Deco-esque. I think that a lot of recent games have a lot of enviroments that are based on real locations- back in those days we really created things that were original and unique, so it came out of our imagination, but there was inspirations from various things.

2. DiGi: When creating the 5 Ideya, orbs that the dreamers posess, did you consider more than 5 and was there any strict concept in designing them because we researched that they were based on Carl Jungs dream theory. Were there any other Ideya based on that?

Iizuka: In the NiGHTS world what were were trying to do was we were trying to create a game that wasn't just fictional. We were trying to create a game that was a dream like what everyone has. A real dream. So to achieve that we had to study many dream theories. Carl Jung was one of them among many others that we actually read up on and studied. There was the Shadow and the Animus, things like that, so this on a whole allowed us to create a real dreamworld as it were.Naka: In the NiGHTS world there is only five Ideya. There were various other concepts and elements that didn't make it into the final product.Iizuka: But they are still saved for another project.*big grins all around*

3. TRiPPY: Naka san when you were creating NiGHTS into Dreams what was your most memorable experience when creating it? I heard that you were so moved by watching the FMV for the original game that you actually cried. I remember thinking wow that's so sweet, it must have been really overwhelming to witness your project come to life like that.

Naka: *Thoughful look* Ohhh…~ NiGHTS had been worked on after we'd been working on Sonic for a few years. With Sonic we didn't feel like we'd created a really wholesome story, it isn't really story driven as such, it's more about the player. With NiGHTS what we really wanted to do was the challenge of create a story that people would really bind to and really be engaged with. What we wanted to do was create this experience were we didn't use any voice overs but without speaking can we make people cry? To the point where they're so engaged with it that you'd cry and it would be very emotional. So that was one of the main challenges we were trying to achieve. When we were creating the movie I had the sound added to the movie for the first time and i remember crying watching it myself. It was at that moment that I felt that 'If I'M crying watching this then I'm sure everyone else will cry too.

TRiPPY & DiGi: Oh we did, we did.

Naka: And it's a really rare thing to actually feel that way about a game you've created. It is quite rare. And I would feel very happy if i was able to be involved in a project like that again.
*Quick obvious glance at Naka san *lol*

4. DiGi: (We had to beg for one more question!) (But it was a vital one). Basicaly NiGHTS used to be in a lot of cameos in Sonic games. He hasn't been in many cameos recently. Will we be seeing any more NiGHTS cameos and what does the future hold for NiGHTS? Will we be seeing a NiGHTS 3 or -TRiPPY: Sonic Generations cameo pleeease~DiGi: What's the future for the character?

Iizuka: So the last time NiGHTS made a cameo appearence was in Allstars Racing.TRiPPY & DiGi: *laughs* Yeah that was because of us!Iizuka: *nods* We intend for NiGHTS to continue to make appearences in Sonic games. So even if you have not played the original game, we want to ensure that NiGHTS continues to make apearences so that they can enjoy the character.DiGi: So we don't forget him yeah?TRiPPY: Don't forget NiGHTS.

-End of Questions-
*TRiPPY approaches Naka san with a very rare book and amusing things happen*

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4 Responses to “DreamCast 12 – Summer of Surreal 2011”

I swear man, next time try not to conduct the interview in the middle of the LONDON POLICE CAR SIREN RODEO. Even with that in mind, this interview was absolutely incredible. Nice on ya for making the best of the situation and acting as ambassador for the fanbase.